


Silence

by 20Zvorak17



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Deaf!Sam, Dean is the parent in this household
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-03-07 01:52:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13424196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/20Zvorak17/pseuds/20Zvorak17
Summary: When Sam was only four he took ill with meningitis. By the time John came back Dean had already been forced to call Pastor Jim and take Sam to the hospital. By the time John came back Sam was profoundly Deaf.What good is a Deaf soldier?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, native ASL speakers will notice that I'm using English sentence structure, even when I describe signs. This is because 1. Sam is already talking by the time he gets sick; 2. He has a hearing brother and father.

Sam slumps as the hotel door slams shut behind John. He doesn't dare face Dean for fear of that pitying, sympathetic face. The choice is taken when Dean taps him on the shoulder.

"You know he doesn't mean to be like that."

"Like what?" Sam doesn't appear to be angry but he can school his expression quite well so who knows?

"He doesn't mean to act like he thinks you're...less."

Sam's jaw tics, "But he  _does."_

"No." Dean's fingers snap shut vehemently, because if there's anything he wants for Sam it's for him not to think his father doesn't value him, and it sets the younger off.

"Stop!" His expression is still cool but his right hand hits his left with undue force so Dean knows he's being yelled at. Then it's repeated, soft and almost tired. "Stop."

The worst thing is that Sam's right. John does think Sam is incompetent, incapable because of his Deafness. He doesn't know--or doesn't care--that Sam's other senses more than compensate. His vision is sharper, his sense of smell keener. He can feel breath on the back of his neck. His reflexes are every bit as trained as Dean's because Dean has seen to it. In no way is Sam  _less._  Smarter than Dean and smarter than John, Sam is, if anything, more than the two elder Winchesters. 

If you don't know Sam, it's hard to even tell he's Deaf, thanks to Dean's hard work. He reads lips seamlessly and he speaks really well. It's halting at moments but he's perfectly capable. Sam tries not to sign in front of John, but the whole exercise is an effort and when Sam and Dean are alone they communicate through sign language, although habit has Dean speaking the words he signs as well. 

"I just wish he would see me."

"So do I." Dean admits. Oh, how Dean wished that. Dean would've liked to claim he'd raised Sam into the man he was becoming and he knows that Sam would say he had. However, he doesn't think he can take credit for how wonderful his brother really is. Intelligent, funny, compassionate.

Destined for more than hunting.

Sam is going to go to college and he's not made a secret of that with Dean, not in the slightest. Dean is proud and he wants that for Sam but he's terrified, too.

"I'm gonna take a shower," he tells his brother after a few minute's silence, lazily signing only me and shower. Sam nods and Dean retreats to his thoughts again.

Dad's not going to let Sam go to college. But what Dean knows and their dad does _not_ know--that won't stop Sam, not Dean's endlessly stubborn kid. He didn't raise Sam to back down and every now and again he regrets that, but he knows that it's best. At the time, he'd thought it was for the best because he had to be able to deal with John. He knows now, however, that it's best because Sam's got to be able to handle his life alone.

Sam's only fifteen and Dean tries not to get lost in such melancholic thoughts, not when it's still three years away

But some nights--tonight--three years doesn't feel like long.


	2. Chapter 2

~~~~Sam's been left alone in the motel room again. It's ridiculous--at fifteen he should already be hunting. Dad should either trust him or drop him off with Bobby. Honestly, all he does is worry when he knows he could help and--

And Sam is supposed to be alone but he just felt breath on the back of his neck. He is sure of it. It's the sort of thing Dad wouldn't pick up but Sam's other senses are ninja-level and that was definitely breath. He throws himself into a roll, rising and spinning on one heel. And it  _looks like_ there's nothing but empty air, except that it's shimmering.

"Show yourself." He demands aloud and something materializes, though what it is he cannot say. It doesn't seem to matter; in a second it's gone entirely taking the mirage-like shimmer with it.

 _Don't panic,_ he reminds himself, because panic never solved anything.  _Do a run through of monsters._

Could be a ghost, except he knows the salt lines are intact. Even if he  _had_ screwed up the salt lines--and he knows he didn't, he'd bet his  _hands that he didn't--_ he felt it breathe. The short, sudden burst of air that was distinct to breathing was very recognizable, and he'd recognized it, alright. 

Vampire, maybe, except it's his understanding that they 1. Look human; 2. Can't teleport, 3. Don't exist.

Whatever the thing had been,  human was not a good description. Sam grabbed newspapers going back a month from the hotel office. If there had been deaths recently-that John had somehow not been aware of-that would help him narrow it down.

_Nothing._

Illnesses.

_Nothing_

Bad luck

_Nothing_

Good luck

_Nothing_

Maybe the thing was following him. What sort of monsters latched onto a specific target.

Weeveela--too tall. Bean sidhe--only if he was already dying. This would require further research...tomorrow, he decided, as the phone lit up blue, it being the one thing John would concede to them toting around. Sam called back twice--the signal that yes he was there and yes he was fine. In his mind's eye he could see Dean's face relaxing, eyebrows unfurrowing from their consternation. When Dean stopped by to check on him Friday, Sam would fill him in. After all, it wasn't pressing but it was probably important. Sam flipped open a lore book, falling into the desk chair. 

_Dammit._

 

**Author's Note:**

> Does this interest anyone?


End file.
